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Between Two Extremes

September 25, 2022

Luke 13:10-17

10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

Read Luke 13:10-13

  1. Based on Jesus’ previous interactions Jesus had with the religious leaders, you could almost read just verse 10 and already know how this story was going to play out. Why do you think Luke recorded so many different interactions like this one?
  2. It appears that Jesus interrupted his teaching to heal the crippled woman. What does this suggest about the high priority we put on teaching in most of our worship services? What is the purpose of all the teaching that we do ‘in church’?
  3. On a different occasion (Mark 9) Jesus spoke to a spirit who was keeping a boy trapped and unable to speak. He cast out that spirit and then the boy was healed. In this case he simply heals the woman and doesn’t even address the spirit. What do you make of this?

Read Luke 13:14

  1. What was the original purpose of the Sabbath? What was it intended to accomplish?
  2. What do you think motivated the synagogue leader?
  3. What are your most cherished spiritual practices? What would it feel like if you heard Jesus say, “Yeah. There was a time for that. But that’s not what we’re going to do or how we’re going to do it.” What inner turmoil would that create? How do you think you might respond?

Read Luke 13:15-16

  1. How does the motivation Jesus expresses in these verses compare with the motives that are driving the synagogue leader and his crew?

Read Luke 13:17

  1. Why were the leaders humiliated?
  2. Humiliation is terrible. Tell about a time you felt humiliated? How did you get through it or past it?
  3. It probably didn’t help their sense of humiliation that the rest of the people were delighting in what Jesus was doing. What delights you about what you see Jesus doing in your life? In our church? In the world?